Fruit of the Underground
by DiscontentCat
Summary: What if the world had been taken over by Helheim? What if the Sengoku Drivers were used in underground fights? What if eating food was a thing of the past? What if everyday was a struggle just to remain safe? Contains fantasy violence and furry characters. A furry OC take on Kamen Rider Gaim.
1. Chapter 1

_Here's another side story I'm doing just for fun. I figured since I haven't been posting anything in a while due to me still working on Zero that I'd add something else to my profile. This story will be a bit different in how I update this one. Usually, I write outlines before writing out the actual story. But for this one, I'm just writing it as I go along. How long this story will last will really just depend on what I want to do with it. The segments I upload will also be a bit short, just to give me some breathing room between uploads. So hopefully you all can enjoy. ^^_

 _For this story, I focused on what kind of world would it be if something like Project Ark really had taken off? What kind of world would it develop into? What kind of things would people go through in that world? What would happen to the countless Lockseeds and Sengoku Drivers? So I explored that concept here._

Disclaimer: All publicly recognized characters belong to their respectful creators. This is a fan based parody of Kamen Rider Gaim and nothing more. Please don't sue the furry. XP

* * *

Fruit of the Underground

A large crowd of furs was huddled around in a big circle. Many of them were getting restless. It was almost time…the audience had already gathered…but they were missing the two people that actually mattered. A full fifteen minutes had already passed, and the guests of honor were nowhere to be seen. Everyone was getting impatient. Soon, one of the furs began a chant and everyone soon followed along. They all pumped their fists as they chanted a single word.

Fight.

And soon after their chants had begun, something answered their call.

= BLOOD ORANGE! =

The crowd exploded with enthusiasm. Everyone looked around frantically as they tried to spot their first guest.

= LOCK ON! =

A heavy metal tune echoed throughout the warehouse, only serving to further excite the crowd. A spotlight was turned on up above and it began to sweep across the area. It wasn't long before it found its intended target, a hooded fur, with a belt wrapped around his waist and a large metal sphere floating high above his head. He walked towards the crowd with his paws stuffed into his pockets and the metal sphere following along with him. The crowd cleared the way to allow him into the circle, all growling and screaming in bloodlust.

The Bujin had arrived.

Bujin removed one of his paws from his pockets and clutched onto the handle of a knife attached to his belt buckle. Wordlessly, he flicked his paw up, causing the knife to slice down and open up a lock at the front.

= BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! SHADOWED ROAD…ON STAGE! =

The sphere dropped down onto his head, landing on his shoulders and encasing his head inside. Once it was there, a light traveled down Bujin's body as his clothing was replaced by a sleek, black tunic reaching all the way down to his feet. Suddenly, the sphere cracked open and began to split into four segments. The segments folded in on themselves and rested against Bujin's body and forming his shoulder guards and chest plate. With it properly folded away, the crowd could see his newly formed helmet embellished with a large, crimson red crest. His eyes were hidden away by a large, bright red visor, and his muzzle was hidden behind a mouthpiece. The lights traveled down to his paw to form a large, thick machete. Bujin raised it up before resting it against his shoulder, bouncing the broad side of it against his shoulder guard. The furs around him began to chant his name. That was one down. Only one more to go.

= MANGO! =

Again, the crowd voiced their enthusiasm.

= LOCK ON! =

This time, the sounds of trumpets echoed throughout the area. A new spotlight swept around the area to find the source of the noise. When it stopped, it came across another fur, one with the same belt as Bujin's. His face wasn't hidden away by a hood, instead having chosen to show his face proudly to the crowd. Above his head floated his own metal object, this one taking on the shape of a mango. He reached down and made the knife on his belt chop down on the lock at the front.

= COME ON! =

The mango dropped down and encased his head.

= MANGO ARMS! =

= FIGHT OF HAMMER! =

Light trailed down his form, replacing his clothes with chainmail on his chest, and armor covering his arms and legs. The metal mango opened up, folding in on itself and forming shoulder guards and a chest plate for him. The light reached his paw, and a large, spiked mace took physical form. Once the mango was fully open, everyone could see the knight like helmet that had formed around his head. He swung his mace over his shoulder as he walked towards the crowd, which had since opened up the circle to allow him in. The knight cockily strutted in, making sure to show that he wasn't afraid of the Bujin. The crowd began to spread out widely as the circle was once again closed up. Things were about to get wild, and not everyone was too keen on taking a front row seat.

Within moments, the area had been cleared, leaving a large area for the two armored individuals. They began to circle each other silently, their gazes locked together in an unbreakable grip. Bujin continued to bounce his machete on his left shoulder casually as he sized up his opponent. The knight did the same, dropping his mace back down onto the ground with a loud clang and dragging it along the floor. All the while, the crowd was going absolutely nuts. Already, several of them were holding bills in their paws. Bets had already been placed. Several of the furs were sure that they had their bets on the right guy, and now was the time to find out if they indeed had…

Without warning, the knight charged forward at full speed. Bujin immediately stopped his stride and straightened to face the attacker fully. As the knight closed in, he raised his mace over his head with both paws and prepared to make a hard downwards swing. Bujin stayed in place, deciding to allow him to make the first move. The knight swung downwards with a loud battle cry. Bujin stepped off to the side and narrowly avoided having his head bashed inwards. As he did so, he swung out with his blade and struck the knight in his armored chest. The knight staggered forward with a grunt, clutching his chest with his free paw. Roaring out in fury, he took hold of his mace with both paws and swung his body around to try and deliver a hard swing to the Bujin's back. Bujin looked just in time to see the attack coming and stepped forward, once again narrowly avoiding a swing. But the knight wasn't done. After properly taking hold of his mace, he lunged forward and thrust at Bujin's back with a spike at the top of his weapon. Bujin quickly turned around and batted it away from his body, but the knight kept it up, lunging at him again and again.

It became increasingly difficult to keep up, and the knight was beginning to take notice. He faked the Bujin out once, which left him open for him to strike him in the chest and blow him backwards. He fell onto his back, but he rolled with the momentum so that he would end up in a crouch. He growled lowly to himself as he got back up to his feet. He held his machete out to his left and slowly reached for the blade clipped to his belt. Clutching the handle tightly, he drew it out and held it out to his right. The two warriors stood in place and stared each other down. Everyone else began to shout at them, urging them to get back into the fight. But they took their sweet time, once again circling each other like pack animals.

"You know, I expected more out of the legendary Bujin," the knight shouted over the crowd, "Word was spreading about your level of skill, and how it greatly outmatches mine. Yet so far, you've shown that all of that was just nothing but talk." Bujin kept his silence and continued to circle around the area. The knight chuffed. "Oh, I see how it is. You _do_ think that you're better than me, In fact, you think so highly of yourself that you don't see me as worth responding to. Is THAT it?!" The knight slammed his mace down onto the ground, causing the tiles beneath to crack and crumble. "Well then I guess there'd be no problem if I shut you up for GOOD then!" At that, he grabbed his mace with both paws and charged forward. As he closed in, Bujin pulled a tab at the hilt of his sword. The sides of it lighted up in four segments and Bujin raised his blade up and revealed the pistol that acted as the blade's hilt. Bujin pulled the trigger and shot at the knight's armored torso. The bullets pelted the knight, but he showed no signs of slowing down from them.

The knight closed the space between them and swung hard at Bujin. Bujin stepped just out of range and used his blade to knock at the mace and ensure that the knight followed all the way through with his swing. This left a large opening for Bujin to attack, so he stepped forward and slashed at the knight's midsection with his machete. The knight staggered forward and clutched his stomach with a free paw. As he recovered, Bujin turned around and shot at his back with the pistol part of his blade. The knight grunted as his back was pelted, but all it really did was anger him further. He roared out and spun around, swinging hard at Bujin. Not anticipating the speed of his swing, Bujin's paw was struck hard and his blade was knocked away. It clattered onto the floor far away, just shy of impaling one of the closer bystanders. Bujin glanced at it but the knight left no chance for him to go for it. He thrust the spiked end of his mace at him again and again, forcing Bujin to go on the defensive.

Again, Bujin couldn't keep up with the knight's advances and was met with several strikes to his chest. He was knocked away and fell onto his back with a hard thud, cracking the tiles beneath him. The knight stomped towards him, dragging his mace along the floor. He reached down to the knife at his belt and sliced down.

= MANGO SQUASH! =

The end of his mace suddenly began to enlarge. It grew and grew until it was just as big as the knight himself. He swung it around with both arms and prepared to finish Bujin off. But Bujin reached down to his own belt and sliced down with the knife.

= BLOOD ORANGE SQUASH! =

As the knight swung down, Bujin slashed out, sending an energy slash out and knocking the knight's mace back. The knight staggered back as his mace returned back to normal size, leaving Bujin with yet another opening. He rolled to his feet and lunged forward, striking the knight's chest with a strong stab. The blow knocked him far away, giving him his turn to fall onto his back. The tiles beneath him caved in a bit more due to his heavier weight, resulting in him having a harder time getting back up. This left Bujin enough time to rush back over to his sword. He scooped it up and screeched to a halt, clutching both blades tightly as the knight stood back up.

The knight cursed loudly and slammed his mace into the ground in anger. He reached for the knife at his belt again and sliced down twice.

= MANGO AU LAIT! =

He began to swing his mace around again, but this time with a bit more intensity. As he swung, energy began to gather at the mace's head. Bujin clenched his blades, knowing what he was planning to do. With that in mind, he took both of the blades and connected them together at the bottom of their handles, forming a double bladed weapon. Once they were connected, he charged forward.

"HrrRRA!" the knight roared out at the final swing, causing the head of his mace to shoot out and enlarge like it had before. Bujin's heart pounded; he only had a few seconds to do this. In one smooth motion, he pried the lock out of his belt before plugging it into the side of his pistol-blade.

= 1 =

= 10 =

= 100 =

= 1000! =

Bujin spun around before delivering the hardest swing he could manage at the giant mace head. And as soon as his blade made contact, the mace head erupted in his face. The force of the explosion blew him back slightly, but he powered through it and continued his charge at the knight. As he ran, Bujin flipped his blade around so that the machete was out at front.

= BLOOD ORANGE CHARGE! =

The knight hastily brought up what was left of his mace to defend himself, but it was all for naught. Once Bujin closed in on him, he easily slashed through the metal bar and slashed right through his armor. The knight collapsed onto his knees as his armor faded away and left him in his normal clothes. For a brief moment, he struggled to rise back up to his feet, but his body gave in before he could.

The fight was over. The victor had been decided.

The crowd then exploded into a mix of cheers and cries of disappointment. Several were turning to their fellow furs and laughed at them for their misfortune. Several were cursing loudly and tightly clenching the money that was no longer theirs. But for the most part, the crowd was in a chaos.

But Bujin didn't exactly care. Instead, he knelt down beside his knocked out opponent and rolled him over so he was lying on his back. He reached down and pried his lock out of his belt, claiming his prize. The Lockseed. Once it was in his paw, he stood back up and examined it briefly. It was slightly scratched up, but still usable. That was all that mattered. Satisfied, Bujin stepped away from the unconscious fur and began to walk away, leaving him amongst the chaos of the crowd. As he made his way towards the exit, the furs in his way hastily moved out to the side. Whether they wanted him to win or not, no one wanted to antagonize him in any way. It wasn't long before he was out of the crowd and out the door. It was only when he stepped into a next room did he reach down and close up the lock on his belt. Once it was closed, his armor faded away, leaving him in _his_ normal clothes.

He let out a sigh of relief and walked over to the nearest chair, making sure that his hood was still kept over his eyes. He glanced around and tapped a claw against the rim of his seat. There was only one thing left to do before he could head home. Suddenly, the door he had entered through opened, and a formally dressed leopard stepped through. He closed the door behind him and set a suitcase in front of Bujin.

"There you are," the leopard said to him, "Your winnings for today." Bujin kept his silence and nodded to him before standing up and picking up the case. He raised a knee and rested the case against it before opening it up. Stuffed inside were stacks and stacks of bills. Bujin smirked slightly; at least he'd be able to eat actual food this week. He closed the case and turned to leave, but was stopped as he felt a paw grasp his shoulder. He turned back towards the leopard, making sure to keep his eyes hidden behind his hood. "I suggest you be more careful around here," he said in a firm voice, "There are many in the crowd who'd be more than happy to lop your head off themselves, and I can only keep track of so many at a time." Still, Bujin held his silence, instead preferring to nod in response. The leopard smirked. "Come on. Don't think that I won't look out for the biggest money magnet in the underground. Just don't do anything stupid the next time you're out there." Bujin breathed in for a moment before stepping out of the feline's grasp. The leopard huffed before stuffing his paws into his pockets and walking out the door. Bujin could easily tell that he had angered him, but he didn't care.

He wasn't here to make friends.

With no other reason to hang around any longer, Bujin reached down and pocketed his new lock. Slinging the suitcase over his shoulder, he walked over to the opposite end of the room and walked out the door, exiting the warehouse and heading home.


	2. Chapter 2

Generally, an old, abandoned warehouse wasn't the spitting image of what home sweet home would be. But in times such as these, home was wherever it was safe to sleep at night. Thus, when the Bujin came across the rickety old place, he felt oddly lucky for finding it. Whether or not he still felt the same about the place was up for debate…

As he approached the doors, he made careful work to walk along the sides of the road, hidden amongst the trees. He scanned the area carefully; he didn't want anyone else knowing that he lived here. Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he hurried over to the wooden door and opened it. He glanced behind himself as he stepped inside. It was only after he had closed the door behind him did he let out a sigh of relief. Finally, no more crowds. No more people. He finally had time to himself.

Or rather…herself.

Without the need to keep her hood on for any longer, Bujin slipped her jacket off and dropped it off at the nearest table, revealing her more feminine frame and feline face. Here, she wasn't the great Bujin. She was the lynx named Akane. But the name meant little to her here. It was just something to call herself when she wasn't "The Great Bujin." Out there, that name was the one that mattered. Out there, _she_ wouldn't be respected. But out there, _he_ would be…

For now, she was glad that she didn't have to keep her large ears stuffed under her hood for the rest of the day. She swished her long tail as she walked over to the opposite corner of the building, stopping in front of a tarp covered pile. She removed the tarp to reveal a mess of scattered Lockseeds atop an empty crate. She removed the Mango Lockseed she had one from her previous plight from her pocket and tossed it into the pile. Afterwards, she placed her suitcase of money onto the crate and opened it up. She grabbed a paw's full worth of cash and stuffed it into her pocket. She then closed the case and covered the crate with her tarp once again. She stood up and dusted her paws off. Finally, a chance to have _real_ food. She couldn't even remember the last time she had actually _tasted_ something. _Chewed_ something. _Swallowed_ something.

Nowadays, the only food that was readily available were fruit that would mutate the consumer into a rabid, wild beast. To make matters worse, wherever it grew, it tainted the soil of the land and destroyed whatever used to be growing there. No one knew where the fruit came from, or how it began to spread. But it was there. It was everywhere. It had spread across the world like a plague. And it grew so quickly. In mere seconds, the fruit would sprout and grow into full size, leaving perfect traps for any unsuspecting creatures.

And people.

And with no more plants for livestock to feed on, the world's meat supply only grew scarcer and scarcer. Soon, it became nothing short of a luxury to eat meat. To eat _anything._ Only those who were privileged enough to live in the big city were able to dine on what used to be the common meal. And the city was so closed off, so fearful of outsiders. No one was ever let in out of fear that the beasts would invade and reduce the city to what the rest of the world was now like. It was a miracle that anyone outside of the city could even survive. And the reason they _had_ survived was looped around Akane's waist. The belts, colloquially named the Sengoku Drivers in the underground, had been designed to tackle this problem. When one wears one and takes hold of the deadly fruit, that fruit becomes converted into a viable energy source in the form of the Lockseeds. These devices would be plugged into the belt and act as sustenance for the wearer. And with so many of the vile fruits around, starvation was no longer a problem.

That is, for anyone with a belt.

They had been mass produced, but because of the lack of proper materials to make them, only a certain amount ever reached completion, and only that amount of people were able to get their paws on one. Only two billion people had survived this apocalyptic event, and that was only counting those who were still sapient. Back then, it was believed that the beasts, called Inves by the common people, would only come into existence if an organism consumed the fruit that had brought about the near end of the world. However, it was soon found out that if someone were to be scratched or bitten by an Inves, the victim would soon become one as well.

And so protection was needed.

Modifications were made to the belts, giving the wearers combat capabilities when used with a Lockseed. Creating armors and weapons for the users to defend themselves against the Inves. But armors and weapons could only go so far. Time went on, and more and more people were lost to the Inves. By the end of it all, the big city had been created, and everyone outside of it was left to fend for themselves. By then, no one had the heart to count how many were left…

But now wasn't the time for Akane to think about days long past. Today she could treat herself to actual food. After making sure that the crate really was well hidden enough and tucking her jacket away in a more hidden spot, she walked over to the door and carefully walked out.

* * *

The marketplace was about as special as anyone around here would expect; not at all. But it was the best anyone could manage with the way things were around here. As to be expected, not a lot of furs were around today. Not many had a lot of money to spend. In fact, not many had money in _general_. But it didn't matter very much; money meant so little nowadays. If anything, it merely served as reminders of the days it _did_ matter. But old habits die hard, and the people needed something to act as IOUs. As Akane walked down the road, she glanced at the different assortments of supplies on the tables of each vendor. Nothing really caught her eye, not even the numerous Lockseeds. Considering how easy they were to pick off of the countless vines, the only time it _would_ matter if they had found an especially rare one.

And that's what the underground was for.

Akane shook her head. She was tired of thinking about that place. All she cared about now was putting some food into her mouth. _Actual_ food. Thankfully, she knew the booth where she could get some, and now she actually had the money for it. After turning a corner, she found the place she was looking for. The stand before her wasn't anything flashy. Stacked beneath the canopy were dozens of wooden crates. Thanks to her sensitive nose, Akane could smell the contents inside, and it made her mouth water. Bread, chicken, lettuce, all foods that came from the big city. Whether they had been stolen or bargained for didn't matter to the lynx. All she knew was that she wanted it.

Looking past some of the crates at the front, she could see the stand owner whose back was turned to her. The fellow feline's spotted tail waved around behind her in a happy manner. Akane swiveled her ears around slightly as she heard her hum an unknown tune to herself. It seemed that she was sorting through the various goods in her crates and therefore didn't notice Akane standing there. She silently clicked her tongue. She recognized this ocelot. The one that ran her tongue for far longer than she needed to. Every time she opened her muzzle, a seemingly endless river of words just poured out. It annoyed Akane to no end. _She_ annoyed Akane to no end. She folded her arms with a sigh; this was gonna be a long rest of the day…

The ocelot's ears perked at Akane's sigh. She straightened up and turned around with a confused look on her face. But once her eyes fell upon Akane, her face lit up with glee. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed with a squeal, " _Hi Akane_ ~. How've ya been?"

Akane rolled her eyes. _Here we go…_ she thought to herself.

"Oh wow, it's been so long since I've last _seen_ you," she went on, "The last time I've seen you was… Wow it's been so long that I don't even remember." The ocelot laughed to herself at that. Akane only groaned internally. "Oh how lucky I was to be the one in charge of the stand today. Normally it's good ol' grandma here holdin the fort down. But today, it's your one and only Caroline at the stand." With a bright smile on her face, she turned to the lynx. "Aren't you glad?" Akane didn't say anything for a while, leaving the two of them in awkward silence. Even as Caroline looked to her expectantly, she only shuffled her foot a bit in the dirt. With a disappointed sigh, Caroline regained her composure and put on another bright smile. "So how can I help you today?"

Akane sniffed at the air. "…I…I'd like some…um…" She looked away a bit, shifting her weight between her feet. "What is it…what do you…what's…" She growled internally; she always hated having to actually _speak_ with people. As she continued to fumble around with her words, Caroline smiled.

"Do you need to see what we have first?" she asked warmly.

"Y-yes," Akane finally managed to say. Caroline smiled again before turning over to the crates behind her. She walked over to one and brought it over to the table at the front. She removed the cover which allowed the air to be filled with the scent of the contents inside. She slid it a bit closer to the lynx as they both looked inside. "Ooooh, I almost forgot we had these." The ocelot reached in and picked out something from inside and held it up for the both of them to see. "Canned chicken noodle soup. Especially nice considering how rare meat is nowadays. Oh!" She reached in and picked something else out as well. "And these baguettes! Wow I'm amazed that they still _make_ these in the big city." She smiled and looked back at Akane, whose mouth was starting to water again. " _So_ , what'll it be then?"

Akane shook her head and snapped herself back into reality. She licked her lips and turned to the ocelot, only to glance away and avoid engaging her in eye contact. "How much for…" She glanced back at the box and looked over her options. After thinking it over for a moment, she pointed at the soup can. "How much for that?"

Caroline looked at her finger and traced it to where the lynx was pointing. "The soup?" Akane nodded. Caroline then walked over to the back and grabbed a clipboard. She leafed through the pages as she went down the list. "For the chicken soup, that'll be…" She followed the dotted lines over to the price. "Sixty thousand." Akane pulled out the wad of cash she had taken from her case. Slowly and carefully, she counted up her total. She frowned. Only forty thousand. She hadn't brought enough with her. Briefly, she considered running back to her place and grabbing the rest of the amount needed…

But that meant more time talking with people…

Besides, she didn't want to make any more hints that she was taking part of the underground. She shook her head and looked back to her options. "Then…how much for the bread?" Looking back down at her list, Caroline searched through the prices.

"For the baguette, that'll be thirty nine thousand." Taking away one of the bills, Akane handed her the cash wad. She happily took it and double checked the amount. Once she was sure, she reached in and handed Akane the baguette. "Pleasure doing business with you as always," she said with a smile. Akane only grunted and nodded in response as she took the bread stick from her. "Hey…" Caroline said gently with a look of concern, "You be careful out there, alright? I'm not sure what I'd do with myself if I found out something happened to you." Awkwardly, Akane grunted and nodded again before finally walking away. "Oh…o-okay, see you then!" Caroline shouted as she watched her go, "Take care!" Akane quickened her pace a bit. She was uncomfortable, and now she wanted to go to a place where she could eat alone, _far_ away from people.


	3. Chapter 3

It took a good couple of minutes before the lynx came upon her next destination; a large, hollowed out trunk of what used to be a tree. With the baguette in paw, Akane climbed up into it and sat down, hidden behind the "walls" of her hideout. She gingerly sat down, trying her best not to get any dirt or splinters on her bread. Once she was settled in, she let out a long sigh of relief. Alone again, away from prying eyes. She would have gone straight back home, but she knew that at this hour the Inves would be crawling around the path she would need to take. Which was why she was thankful that she had found this spot in her early years.

Back when she was still a child, she lost her parents to a pack of Inves. It had been such a sudden attack, and she had nowhere else to hide but here. And through some kind of miracle, the monsters passed her by. Thus, this place became just that much more special to her.

Eagerly, Akane took her first savory bite of the baguette. Instantly, the flavor of the bread spread across her tongue. She let out a low murr of satisfaction as she chewed her bite slowly, preferring to savor the moment. Sure, she had more money to get more, but this was the first time in a _long_ while that she had been able to do this. _Next week is the soup,_ she told herself firmly, _then next week…the lettuce…_ She took another bite and let out another satisfied murr. She closed her eyes to allow herself to focus on the food more.

But suddenly, her sensitive hearing caught on to something nearby. The snap of a twig. Frowning slightly, she swiveled her ears around and tried to focus on where it had come from. Soon enough, she could make out the faint sounds of footsteps. And not just one set, but two. Eventually, she caught on to the sounds of their hushed voices.

"Are you sure we should be doing this, Callan?" whispered a female voice, "You know the Inves come out at this hour…"

"We don't have any other choice, Steph," whispered Callan, "They've been getting stronger, and we can't find any strong Lockseeds to defend ourselves with."

"True…" replied Steph, "but can't we just stay with someone for the time being? I'm sure that there will be someone willing to—"

"Don't get your hopes up," Callan cut in, "Things are still far too tense around here, so I'm willing to bet that everyone would rather keep to themselves, leave the space for the people that actually _do_ matter to them…" Akane caught a sigh from Steph.

"Alright," she replied, "let's hurry then. I really don't like being out in the open like this…" Akane then heard more rushed footsteps go by as they hurried along. At that, the lynx began to relax a little more. They were leaving the area, which in turn meant they were leaving _her_ alone. With that in mind, she took another bite off of her baguette and closed her eyes again to focus on it more. But before she could finish chewing, a shrill cry of terror filled the air. Akane's heart skipped a beat, and she froze in place. Almost immediately, the sounds of buzzing and hissing replaced the cold silence hanging over the area. She heard heavy footsteps, scraping claws and rapid clicks.

Inves.

Akane's heart began to race. The bread she held dropped from her paws onto her lap. Acting purely out of reflex, she reached down and drew out the dagger sheathed at the side of her cargo pants. She clutched the handle tightly in both paws, which were trembling uncontrollably. Out in the distance, she could hear the crescendo of sounds being emitted by the two furs' Drivers as they hastily transformed to defend themselves. But the swarm was big; she could tell just by the sounds alone. She had no doubt in her mind that the two of them were done for. One of her paws briefly hovered over her pocket, but she quickly retracted it back to the knife handle. She shook her head over and over again. No, she couldn't face those…monstrosities again. Here, it was kill or be killed. And if she went out there, she _would_ be killed along with those two. And the sheer number of them didn't even matter. She knew that the second that her vision fell upon one of those things, she would be done for, with her body paralyzed with terror.

She clenched her eyes closed, put her head between her knees and wrapped her tail tightly around her form, curling herself up in a tight ball. She rocked back and forth, praying for the horrible sounds to come to an end. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think about what could have been done. She didn't want to think about her cold blooded deed. She did the smart thing. She took the safe route. She was looking out for herself. That's what this world was about after all; looking after yourself, and yourself alone. But she didn't want to think about that. She just wanted the noises to end.

And after what felt like decades to her, the horrible noises finally stopped.

Slowly, carefully, she opened her eyes and raised her head. Her knife was still clenched tightly in her paws. She dared not move from her spot, not if it meant giving away her hiding spot. No, she was going to wait until she was _absolutely_ sure that it was safe. So she sat there, sitting in the silence. A moment passed. Then another. And then another. She let out a trembling breath, only now realizing that she had been holding it in the entire time. She hesitated, still unsure of her safety. But eventually she gathered up the courage to stand up and peek out from her spot. She scanned the area carefully. The area seemed clear enough. She looked a bit more to the side and she caught sight of two crumpled up forms. She quickly turned away; she didn't need to see what had happened to those two.

She sat back down, only now realizing that she had dropped her bread. She glanced down and grabbed it up with a free paw. She stared blankly at it for a while, suddenly feeling numb to the whole situation. Then, rather reluctantly, she took another bite off of it. She chewed slowly, once again trying her best to focus on the food itself. She swallowed the bite and stared at her bread again. She cringed and set it down beside her. She clenched her eyes closed, her breathing suddenly becoming erratic and labored. Abruptly, she stood up and climbed out from her hiding spot. With quickened steps, she hurried back towards the warehouse, making very sure to avoid approaching the limp, lifeless bodies of the two unfortunate furs. All she wanted to do now was go home. She'd had enough of the people, she'd had enough of the outside world, and she'd had enough stress for the day. It didn't even matter to her anymore that she was leaving behind her bread.

For whatever reason, it didn't taste as good anymore…


	4. Chapter 4

The caution she had practiced earlier in the day was all but tossed to the wind as she hurried back into the warehouse. She sheathed her knife and reached for the door, her still trembling paws fumbling with the knob. With a growl of frustration, she tightly gripped the knob and swung the door open. She eagerly slipped inside and closed the door behind her. Once she was inside, she leaned against the door and let out an enormous sigh of relief. Yes, they were all gone now. The people were far away, and the stress was left far behind her. She was back in her sanctuary, her safe place, her domain. This was where she had longed to be and had craved to be. She stood up from the door and took her first few steps forward. However, her entire body jerked as a loud bang sounded out from the other side of the warehouse.

Hastily, Akane scrambled off to the side to hide behind the tarped crate nearby. Soon enough, the bang was followed by the sounds of clamoring, frantic foot stomps. Shadows were cast across the floor from the doorway of the door that had been busted open. A small blur shot forward before it tumbled onto the ground. The shape got up, revealing it to be a young jaguar boy with a wild, fearful look across his face. He scrambled backwards as the shadows began to grow, soon being followed by the source of those shadows; a group of various furs, a gang from the looks of things.

"Come on kid, don't make this harder on yourself," said who appeared to be the leader of the group, "We know you've got that rare Lockseed on you. Just fork it over and you can walk away quietly." The kid scrambled back to his feet and ran for the other side of the warehouse. However, several of the other gang members cut him off before he could get very far. The kid fell back onto his rear, scrambling back frantically and looking around for any way out. He grabbed hold of a dusty wooden plank and tried to toss it at one of the gang members. But he easily dodged it and it clattered on the floor uselessly. The gang began to laugh as they continued to keep the boy boxed in. Every time he tried to run, a member would just get in front of him and cut him off again. The leader began to laugh.

"Come on now, just give it up already," he taunted, "We already know that you can't handle all of us at once, and you should know that as well!" The kid growled out of a mixture of anger and anxiety. With a huff, he fumbled around with his jacket pocket and pulled out his own Driver. He slapped it on his waist and the belt coiled around him. The gang members all laughed and looked to each other in amusement. But still the boy continued. He reached into his pocket again and pried out the alleged Lockseed from his pocket. He wasted no time in triggering it.

= DURIAN! =

A metal orb in the shape of a durian appeared over the boy as he stood up and jammed the Lockseed into the open slot at the front of his Driver. He fumbled with it for a bit before finally locking it into place.

= LOCK ON! =

His paw immediately went for the knife, which he sliced down with, causing the front of the Lockseed to open up.

= SEIYA! =

The metal durian fell and engulfed the boy's head. In a bright flash of light, his body became covered in a light armor as the fruit opened up and folded in on itself.

= DURIAN ARMS! MISTEEEEEEEER DAAAAANGEROUS! =

Another bright flash, and the boy's paws clutched on to the handles of twin spiky blades, both clearly far too large for the boy to handle. And far too heavy, made obvious by the fact that as soon as the blades had materialized in his paws, they dropped straight down to the ground despite his grip on them. The gang began to laugh again, with each member pulling out their own respective Drivers and Lockseeds. A crescendo of noises sounded out as they all transformed into their armored forms. Once they were through, each member was armed with either a long spear, or oversized metal boxing gloves. They continued to laugh as they all clanged their weapons against each other's, filling the warehouse with loud bangs and making Akane lower her ears against her head.

"Let's get him!" shouted one of them before they all rushed the poor child. Sparks shot out as their weapons mercilessly struck the boy, his armored body doing little to buffer the pain he was being dealt. He vainly tried to lift his blades up to defend himself, but the blades were far too heavy for him to lift up on his own. It wasn't long before he dropped them. His entire body followed soon after, and he curled up in a ball to protect himself from the onslaught. He cried out again and again as he was struck. Unable to do anything else to defend himself, he merely closed his eyes and begged for it all to end soon. Meanwhile, Akane's eyes were squeezed shut, and her paws were pressed firmly against her lowered ears. More noise, more people, it just never ended for her. She began to growl to herself, which was overpowered by the sounds of the gang's senseless beating. There was a chance that they would leave if they got what they wanted, but there was also the chance that they would simply stay in the warehouse, probably for a while, even after they had done their dirty work.

Cursing to herself lowly, she opened her eyes, knowing what she had to do next. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her own Driver, slapping it to her waist and allowing the belt to form around her. She then slipped out her Lockseed and triggered it.

= BLOOD ORANGE! =

Thankfully, the sounds of the chaos drowned out the sounds of her Lockseed, and every other sound that would be caused by her. Just above her head, the metallic orange materialized and hovered in the air. In one smooth motion, she slotted the Lockseed into the belt and sliced down with the knife to open it up. The orb then encased Akane's head, and the armor she had donned before took shape on her again. Them, the orb opened up and folded in on itself.

= BLOOD ORANGE ARMS! SHADOWED ROAD…ON STAGE! =

As she stood, the orb completely folded in, and her machete formed in her paw. She took her time in walking towards the gang, who was too preoccupied with the child to notice her approach.

Or rather, the Bujin's approach.

The Bujin then reached over and drew out the blade clipped to his belt. He pulled the tab at the hilt, causing the sides of the blade to light up. With the gang's focus still on the boy, there were a lot of backs turned to him, and he wasn't against striking an opponent in the back when given the chance. And they were about to learn that lesson today.

Without warning, he raised the blade up and pulled the trigger, shooting the closest one in the lower back and prompting a pained cry from him. The others took notice and looked behind them. Right away, their cocky, proud demeanors faltered as they realized who it was that was staring them down. No words needed to be exchanged at that point. The gang immediately moved their focus away from the boy to the Bujin, and they all circled him instead.

"Leave now," he growled in a deep voice, "otherwise, you WILL be dealt with." The gang members all looked to each other in uncertainty. Reluctantly, the leader spoke up.

"We're not afraid of you," he said confidently, "You may have a big rep in the underground, but you're outnumbered. Not even _you_ can handle all of us at once!"

Already completely spent on patience, Bujin lashed out at the ground with his blade with a loud clang, sending sparks flying everywhere. "You've been warned." He stalked forward and fired off another shot, this time at the leader, who was blown back from the force. This cued the other members to charge forward. But they were unorganized, uncoordinated, and as such began to get in each other's way. This made it all too easy for the Bujin to strike at each and every one of them one by one. As one would fall, the other would trip over him and fall right into the Bujin's blades. Not a single hit was landed on the warrior as more and more members fell before him. Suddenly, the ones on the ground grabbed hold of his ankles, holding him in place. It was only a moment that he faltered, but the moment was long enough for some of the gang members to take advantage of. He was struck in the chest again and again, sparks once again flying. But the Bujin's wrath wouldn't be stopped by this. He reached down and sliced down with his knife once, twice, three times.

= BLOOD ORANGE SPARKING! =

His machete began to glow, though the gang members were too focused on him to notice. With a bellowing roar, he swung out and let loose a large energy slash that knocked the standing gang members off of their feet. As soon as they hit the ground, their armor shattered away, with their Lockseeds following suit. Now only the members on the ground remained an opposition. Fury in his eyes, the Bujin lashed out at each one, slashing their armored backs again and again, forcing out cries of pain from each and every one of them. They had to learn. They needed to know what happened to furs that angered him. They needed to know the consequences of invading his home. They needed to know, and _never_ forget. It was only when their armor shattered as well did he finally stop. He then kicked away one that still held on to his ankle, dazing him and leaving a sizable bruise on his forehead. They all scrambled away in fear, refusing to spend another _second_ near this maniac. One by one, he watched them disappear from her sight, listening to their frantic foot stomps grow more and more distant. He clutched the handle of his blade even tighter than before and emptied the rest of his shots into the ground in front of him. He steadied his breathing, slowing it gradually. They were gone. They wouldn't bother him anymore. He sighed and opened his eyes, turning to the only other being in the room.

It was time to deal with the boy…


End file.
